Jackson Coosa

Yes Allen, thats "trouble maker". The S turn slammed the front of our boat into the wave and then I was swimming, soon to be followed by everyone else. Wasnt a horrible swim but still sucked and it wouldnt be my only swim in this rapid.
I think that picture is about 20 years old.   Did you notice the boat?  Yep, its a bucket.
Heres another good wave on that same fork but in a modern day raft.
sorry for the tangent

just read this on the jackson website after deducing that our coosa's are elite's not standards.

•The River Kayak Fishing Niche has been completely overlooked for many years in the kayak fishing world. Moving water, narrow flats, bushed-in waterways, oxbow lakes and whitewater are natural feeding grounds for all river fish and most of the action is found in these narrows, stretches and rapids. For generations some of these grounds have been missed simply due to inaccessibility; hidden oxbow lakes from rivers, pools loaded with unfished territory in between rapids and much more. The Coosa’s ‘creek-style’ hull design, secondary stability, whitewater-esq ‘rocker’ all make for a performing river craft. It turns tight, slips shallow to get over debris, bumps and grinds shallow river beds and punches holes and waves in class IV whitewater… getting you to some of the most untouched fishing grounds on earth!


Looks like they were specifically gunning for that WW SOT niche. I have to say it fealt like a WW boat in the water. Also, this suckers only 11'2 so again, they're really gunning for that WW SOT niche.

Yes Allen, thats "trouble maker". The S turn slammed the front of our boat into the wave and then I was swimming, soon to be followed by everyone else. Wasnt a horrible swim but still sucked and it wouldnt be my only swim in this rapid.
I think that picture is about 20 years old.   Did you notice the boat?  Yep, its a bucket.
Heres another good wave on that same fork but in a modern day raft.
sorry for the tangent

Looks much more class 3 in that pic!

and I should say that i pucker hard in ANY boat in class 4. at least in a SOT I could just climb back on! although yardsaling is a much higher risk in a SOT.

Hey guys, Drew Gregory here.  Yeah, the same one that got attacked by that goose!  But, c'mon, he jumped from behind without notice, which was kind of a cheap shot if you ask me.  I mean, at least square up with me face to face, man to man...but I digress.   

Anyway, like others have mentioned I am the kayak angler who designed the Coosa, and believe it or not even though I grew up in the south (Atlanta), I don't even own a pair of cowboy boots    Shocking, I know.

I've been following this thread for some time now and since we don't yet have a "kayak fishing team member" in the northwest I figured I would come on and help explain some things about the boat although Nanook has been doing a pretty good job already by letting people know that some of their perceptions about the boat are a little off.  For example, how he let someone know that the tankwell drains into scuppers under the seat so water does not fill there.  And, the seat does drop down to a lower position as well for a more stable platform - but if you ever ride in the boat you will soon see that you will want the seat in the high position 90% of the time because it is more comfortable, easier to stand and sit down from etc.  Of course if you are in a river with a lot of class II+ WW or taking the boat in offshore surf you'll probably want the seat in the low position.  One other thing I can mention is that there are two versions of the boat (Standard and Elite) and the Standard version does not come with the external frame seat, but rather a thermoformed seat that is more like a typical SOT seat.  So, if you don't like the Elite Hi/Lo seat you can just buy the Standard version of the boat.  We'll probably have photos of that version on the website soon. 

One thing I am surprised I haven't seen on this thread yet (and one reason I jumped on) is that no one has linked to the video which explains the boat in detail with the video and photos to match.  This will answer a lot of questions on the boat and shows what it can do. 



As Nanook explained the boat is designed to handle serious whitewater paddling and is the first kayak fishing boat to ever be designed with features that cater to the river angler.  Of course it excels in more areas than just the river and that is why I not only used my own knowledge (over 700 kayak fishing trips) but consulted fly fisherman, lake, pond, inshore and offshore fisherman.  But, as an educated group of kayak anglers here you probably already can tell that its not the boat an angler that fishes the majority of the time offshore would want.  It is best suited for inshore, lakes, ponds and of course rivers.  However, it can handle offshore, but just doesn't have the speed for plug trolling nor if you paddle long distances to get to your fishing location.  I took it two miles off the coast of Florida and caught mackerel, sharks etc and it got the job done. 

Here is a video showing what it can do in whitewater. 



As far as the conversation about kayak manufacturers making boats specific for a certain region, it just isn't practical from a business standpoint.  Some of you alluded to this.  For instance, even the Coosa isn't what I would design if it was truly 100% for me (5'8, 160lbs) and what I fish most - rivers.  The niche is too small to invest all the money that it takes to make a mold.  Instead, we made it great for anglers of many sizes (takes over 250lbs before water comes up through scuppers) and many areas of kayak fishing, and especially rivers.  This will hopefully sell enough kayaks where we can keep going and maybe one day get more specific for certain areas (northwest for example).  We certainly listen to anglers and want them to know that we are here for them to share their frustrations with angler designs, and if we can "solve" the issues with a future boat then of course we will.  It's the beauty of being such a small, family run company.  No thick firewalls or committees for decisions to go through.  Anyone can email, call or PM me or president and whitewater designer Eric Jackson at any time.  I suppose it is this type of personal attention that has brought Jackson to the top of the whitewater industry and the leader in market share.  Nanook is right that the fishing kayaks will eventually continue to get more niche specific.  I mean, right now there really aren't many that have even been designed from the ground up with fishing in mind.

If any of you have had the opportunity to watch "Yaknitup" move around on top of his X-Factor, this Drew Gregory has nothing on him!

If you say so...    To me its just about getting on the water and having a good time, not "who is better than who."     

As someone who spends a fair amount of time on Oregon's  faster flowing rivers fishing from everything from kayaks to  jet sleds and everything in between I have to say that from what I've seen this yak comes the closest to what a guy needs (in a current production yak) to fish coastal rivers for steelhead/salmon and even the larger metro area rivers like the Sandy and the Clackamas should be fine.  Little to no keel, some rocker, stable, being able to stand is a big plus, etc. 

After watching the white water video it doesn't seem to suffer from some of the problems I face when floating fast water in my fish and dive (wouldn't think of taking the Adventure down a fast flowing narrow coastal river) it seems to be able to slide over current seams and eddies without catching an edge allowing you to back paddle and feather in and out of eddies/current breaks which is critical for reaching steelhead holding water.  It also seems responsive to the paddle while in heavy water allowing more flexibility in changing your line to dodge unseen obstacles etc. Two areas where my current river yak is less then ideal.   I may have to go take one of these out for a test paddle.

Curious ... how is it on anchor?

-Allen

I think I'm going to put some of my tax return into one of these.  The raised seat almost gets the pontoon effect going.

If any of you have had the opportunity to watch "Yaknitup" move around on top of his X-Factor, this Drew Gregory has nothing on him!

If you say so...    To me its just about getting on the water and having a good time, not "who is better than who."   

It's all about being on the water for sure.
Both you and Yaknitup have some great balance, way more than my unstable body could muster on a sheet of plywood.   

Bring that yak out here for the Oregon Rock fish Classic and we'll see if we can get some friendly Mini Olympics going for added entertainment. 
- Some kayak monkey antics between you and Yaknitup in the bumpy swells.
- A long awaited offshore race between NANOOK and Pelagic Peddler.
- Puking contest.
- Maybe a drysuit shimmy shimmy dance.

BTW - the WW video you posted shows the drainage of the tank well really good.  Cool concept! 

OK, that got my attention...

I wonder how they are to re-enter if you fall out.

-Spot-

Sounds more like extra special olympics bro.

Sounds more like extra special olympics bro.

Thats easy to say as former gold medal winner in the "rainbow yawn" competition

Man I didn't even get a TShirt out of that performance!

OK, that got my attention...

I wonder how they are to re-enter if you fall out.

-Spot-

easy, same as every SOT.

the one thing I've been thinking about is that metal framed high back seat. If I were to run class 3 & 4 WW, I wouldn't want a sharp corner pokin me in the kidneys, bouncing down a wave train on that thing could be problematic, and if we really ran big WW in it, that high back seat is going to make it harder. although I'm probably never going to run anything bigger than 3 in the coosa anyways. probably never bigger than a 2+ really. Bigger than that and I'd prefer a true WW boat i think.

It will limit rotation and mobility for bracing, stern rudders/draws, and general high angle paddling. I don't get how a regular SOT seat would work in the coosa, because it's molded under the seat to hold to rectangular tackle boxes, has a ridge right down the middle, and no contour for a butt at all. I don't really see the need for under seat tackle boxes, and would prefer a molded contour where I could put a foam low back or no back seat.....but I get it for the GP.

Nanook is exactly right, its as easy or even easier to get in as compared to a regular SOT because it is so stable. 

Nanook, look to the right and left below the seat where there are some cut outs (for a pocket accessory we are working on) and you will see 4 threaded inserts.  That is where the thermoformed seat is dropped in and secured.  It is contoured just like a normal SOT seat and the factory will be able to sell one to you if you indeed want both seats for the Coosa.  However, I would try it in the class III's you'll be running first because I think you'll see the seat is not an issue at all.  Usually when running that type of water you'll be leaning forward and aggressively paddling.  I don't ever remember any hard areas on the seat contacting me in WW - maybe because I am leaning forward aggressively paddling though.  Also, if there was any hard area contacting me I suppose I would never feel it anyway because of my Kokatat Bahia Tour PFD that I of course always have on.